Framing

[Kim]

Some of the things we discussed during our Cinematography workshops over the years included many facets of lighting, different kinds of shots and coverage, camera placement, camera movement, and composition and how they relate to the artistic choices of telling the story.

I am watching Game of Thrones again and noticing all the framing of the position of the characters in the frame. I have become very interested in this and how the position in the frame changes motion walking into view or when another character is revealed. I think these decisions become intuitive, and some may be done in editing, but there must be some essential guides framing characters starting with the two-thirds rules. Also, I see frames within frames in GOT that include characters in the foreground, characters in the background, archways, garden walls, ship masts, castle pillars, windows, doors, and so on. Is it serendipitous, and you work with the frames as they are available, or do you put them in the scene in a formulaic or artistic manner?

I hope we can ask some of our Webinar speakers to talk about this and especially when framing actions of characters walking, riding, or moving in some fashion from one place to another.

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[Swati]

Wong kar Wai’s films have great framing- artistic, poetic like- 2046, In the mood for love, Chungking express, As tears go by… I find his framing more intuitive, something which we can feel more.

Another one I liked was Citizen Kane’s framing of young Kane playing in snow innocently in the window not knowing how his mother is planning his exit, signing papers in the same frame. Both scenes in 1 frame create irony and some sort of sadness.

Multiple framing makes our mind diverted, but then you realise that mind enjoys getting diverted,as if we are feeding it more in terms of visual richness. Mind wants to run away but can’t because there is so much to explore. It gets trapped.

“The Shining” has maze like frame within a frame till infinity.

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[Maura]

Hey Kim!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the cinematography in Game of Thrones. It’s great that you’ve become interested in the position of characters in the frame and the framing techniques used in the show.

The placement of characters in the frame is essential for storytelling, and sometimes it’s intuitive, while other times it’s deliberate and planned. As for framing techniques like the two-thirds rule or frames within frames, cinematographers often have a set of guidelines, but it also depends on the specific scene and available resources.

I think it would be great to have webinar speakers discuss framing actions of characters, especially when they’re walking or moving. Camera movement and placement can significantly affect the audience’s immersion and emotional connection with the characters.

I loved Roy H. Wagner, ASC talk about framing in his webinar! I would love to see more webinars on this topic!

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[Scott]

Framing is such an important part of cinematography. I am constantly envisioning my framing and how it enhances the scene and the story. It is one of my favorite and most challenging concepts because I want to create a beautiful shot that enhances the story. If you are looking for great cinematography check out the limited series called Black Butterfly ( Les Papillons noirs). It’s one of those shows that inspires me to challenge my own work.

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[Kim]

Reminds me of the stories I have heard about how much Alfred Hitchcock put into planning shots.

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